The School of Chemical Engineering at Yeungnam University in Republic of Korea, has chosen a wide ranging brief. It’s three honorary professors, sixteen international research professors, seven adjunct professors, and six staff members share their time among a wide variety of themes. Eco-conscious renewable energy is close their hearts. In this spirit, they reviewed green batteries for a sustainable future.
Sustainable Green Batteries For the Future
We must have batteries if we want to sustain our tech-based lifestyle. However, the Yeungnam University School of Chemical Engineering believes there is poor integration between materials and processes. So they put their minds together and determined the elements of a sustainable approach towards next-gen batteries:
- Green batteries place eco-friendly materials high on their priorities. This ensures these are abundant, renewable, and non-toxic. Eco-friendly batteries replace existing materials with sustainable alternatives. They enhance battery performance, while reducing carbon footprints.
- Sustainable synthesis promotes low energy, solvent-free manufacture. Natural micro-organisms and plant extracts reduce dangerous chemicals, while improving electrochemical performance. The goal is non-toxic batteries with smaller carbon footprints.
- Design-for-end-of-life strategies produce green batteries for a sustainable future, that are built to recycle. This means they employ materials and chemistries that easily separate when they reach their useful end-of-lives. We can re-use their materials without creating a residue of hazardous waste.
- But green batteries are also safe, and compatible with the environment. They use chemically and thermally stable materials. For example, non-flammable solid state and aqueous electrolytes reduce the chances of chemicals leaking out, fires, and thermal runaways.
- Energy and resource efficiency means minimizing energy consumption during manufacture, and also eliminating scarce raw materials. The overall goal is teaming high energy density with long cycle lives. When we achieve these two simultaneously, then we reduce the resources we use over time.
In summary then, and to draw the threads together, green battery technology strikes a better balance between cost, sustainability, and performance. Hence, it offers a promising path to the more optimistic battery future we seek.
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